


One Day More

by snarkysweetness



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Character Death, F/M, Family, Future Fic, Gen, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Multi, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-17
Updated: 2012-11-17
Packaged: 2017-11-18 20:49:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/565140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarkysweetness/pseuds/snarkysweetness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After his wife’s death, August loses the will to keep going, leaving the people who love him to pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Day More

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got around to watching One Day, which is horrible and will ruin you emotionally, and prompted myself with this. Basically, I hope August goes first, because while I think Emma would be able to go on without him, I don’t know if my poor baby could handle losing her. This might break you and before you all ask me ‘why’; because I needed something to balance all the fluff. And I suffered writing this, so it’s not just you feeling pain. As always, thanks to hunks for the encouragement.

August Wayne Booth, formerly Pinocchio, hadn't touched a bottle of Whiskey in twenty-three years. Not since leaving Phuket to reunite with Emma and help her break the curse. Emma inspired the best in everyone and she'd helped him fight off the temptation. No matter how much he wanted the drink he never again allowed himself to give into it.

He wished it had been hard. After all, he'd wasted most of his life being addicted to the stuff. And yes, at first, it had been difficult. He'd get the urge to indulge in just _one more drink_ , but just the thought of Emma and his desire to fix everything he had done wrong in her life would help him keep fighting.

Then, one day, out of the blue, he completely forgot about his addiction. He could be in a bar without any temptation, help a drunk Ruby back home, and be in the company of his friends without a second thought to having anything other than a glass of water.

The funny thing about finally falling in love, finding the person you were meant to spend your life with, was that there was no longer any sorrow in your life to drown.

He was an addict and he went from needing a fix of booze to only needing her. She and the life they made together became his new drug.

And that life had been a good one. Even after dying twice, losing Henry to break the curse, his father and Granny dying, the war, and defeating Regina, they'd managed to find their own version of a happy ending.

But of course, everyone knows that 'happily ever after' doesn't last forever and eventually the fairytale comes to an end.

When she'd died she'd taken their fairytale with her and with it, his will to live without her.

So here he was, half-conscious on the floor of the house they'd shared, completely knackered, and a broken bottle of Maker's Mark surrounding him.

How in the Hell had he wound up here?

" _You're letting him drink?"_

_Killian glanced up to find his very angry wife staring down at the pair of them and gave her his trademark grin._

" _Nay, love, I found him like this, though I will admit I didn't stop him. Let the man unwind a little, my little Red beast, he could use it. Jefferson, another, round of Jameson, will you? But add another for my lovely bride, here."_

_Ruby did not seem amused with any of them so when Killian grabbed her arse before pulling her into his lap it just pissed her off._

_August sat up a bit to drain the rest of his glass, stumbling a bit on his barstool._

" _No…Maker's Mark…it was her favorite."_

_Plus he'd already finished an entire bottle of Jameson before stumbling into the bar for another drink. He could use something new. And if it reminded him of her, then it was all the better._

_Jefferson sent August a pitying look._

" _Look, I know I'm not your favorite person, but maybe-"_

" _Fuck off, Jefferson. Don't you have some women to drug and hog-tie?"_

_Ruby let out a long sigh and slapped Killian's hand away._

" _Jefferson, he doesn't mean it. And you, you're just as drunk as he is."_

_She pushed away from her husband and pulled August off the barstool._

" _Jefferson, help me get these two into the car, will you? Don't you dare argue with me, Killian Jones, or I swear to God you are never touching me again," she snapped before he could speak._

" _I'm not going anywhere," August argued. "You're not the boss of me…she's dead, remember? She's…" He didn't know if it was saying it out loud or if it was the cold, crushing reminder that he'd never hold her in his arms and smell the cinnamon that always clung to her skin again, but he suddenly found himself sobbing against poor Ruby._

_For all of her anger she immediately softened up and ran her fingers through his hair, shushing him._

Everything after that was a blur. He vaguely recalled the ride home in the car he'd lay sprawled out in the back seat while Killian sat in the passenger seat belting out old sailors tunes. Somehow Ruby had managed to get him into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom, which had been a bad judgment call on her part.

After waking from a dream about his departed beloved and smelling the scent of her still lingering to her pillow he'd broken into her secret stash and proceeded to drink some more. He didn't know what he'd been seeking when he descended down the stairs and took a tumble but here he was now, at the bottom of them, his body aching, parts of him bloodied, and the remainder of her favorite drink soaking into the floorboards.

His head swam and he began to lose focus.

Voices came at him, but he struggled to make sense of them.

"Dad! Daddy! Peter! Call 911!"

August reached up as his daughter's face came into focus, but he quickly decided into the darkness, hearing her mother's voice as he went.

He woke hours later with his head throbbing. He opened his eyes and promptly shut them with a groan.

"Why is it so bright in here?"

The bed shifted with the weight of a small blonde.

"Because you're a jackass and you deserve it."

August opened his eyes and smiled as he let them adjust to the light.

"Emma," he whispered, reaching out to touch her cheek gently.

She stared back at him with her beautiful hazel eyes and that stubborn set of her jaw.

"No, daddy, it's me, Amelia. Mommy's gone, remember?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes.

"How could I forget? And its Emmeline," he whispered. "We only called you Amelia so people wouldn't confuse you with your mother."

He heard his baby girl give a strangled sob as he sensed another presence in the room.

"Henry."

"Dad."

He opened his eyes to find Henry giving him a disapproving look as he held onto his little sister who was now sobbing into her brother's shirt. Henry leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Peter's waiting for you. You should try to eat something. When I'm done here Pan and I will take you home with us. The boys miss their aunt."

Amelia nodded with a sniffle and pulled away from him. She turned to leave but after a moment thought better of it and returned to her father's bedside, kissing his cheek before angrily leaving the room.

August watched her fondly before toying with the I.V. in his arm.

"She looks exactly like your mother. You…you're a nice mix of the two of us, but she's all Emma. All piss and vinegar and fire." He sighed and closed his eyes. "You shouldn't leave her alone with that pirate; he's going to knock her up. I don't want my baby to be a teen mom."

"Yeah, well, you did it to mom. At least Peter will stick around."

"Henry, that's not fair, if I'd known-"

"I'm not here to talk about the past, dad," Henry snapped, reminding August of Emma. He hated seeing his son all grown-up. He'd once been an imaginative child full of wonder and hope and now he was becoming a bitter old-man, just like his father. August had hoped Henry would take after Snow and Geppetto more, being able to retain that innocence even through adversary, but after Emma's death, something had broken in both of them, only Henry couldn't afford to spiral down the way August was, he had three little ones to look after, while August had no one.

Henry was married with his own life and Amelia would be eighteen soon. His little Princess, all grown up.

"I'm going to keep Amelia with me for a while, until you…" Henry closed his eyes with a sigh. "I know it's not in your nature to be unselfish, so I'm not angry with you, but Amelia needs to be somewhere stable. Clearly you're not capable of holding it together for her and Pan and I can do that for her until you decide to stop whatever the Hell _this_ is."

August wished he could argue with Henry. After all, he had his husband and the Lost Boys to take care; he didn't need his teenage sister on top of all of that. But August wanted to be done with all of this. He loved his kids but they didn't need him anymore, and he was tired, so tired of trying to live without Emma. He wanted to be with her again and maybe, if he knew for sure Amelia would be taken care of; he could finally stop trying to drink himself to death and just end it already.

"That's probably best."

Henry stared at him in shock.

"What? Did you think I was going to argue with you? It's been three months, Henry, and I'm getting worse. Your sister doesn't need to come home and find me dead one day, son."

After a long moment Henry exploded.

"Are you fucking kidding me? She needs you, dad! You're all she has left. You need to stop! I get it, she's gone, and we all miss her, but killing yourself isn't going to fix anything! I missed out on the first ten years of my life with you! And Amelia…she's had you the whole time, what do you think losing both of her parents is going to do to her? And the boys? They need their grandfather. You have to…"

Henry choked back a sob and August averted his gaze. Even if his kid was a grown man in his thirties, he hated seeing him cry.

"Before you do anything stupid just remember there are people who still need you and I guarantee you, if you do something to kill yourself, you're not going to be sent to the same place mom is. So if you think this is some romantic thing like in one of your books where you'll be reunited, you're delusional."

Without another words, Henry left, slamming the door behind him.

August ran a hand over his face and cursed to himself.

Whatever drugs the hospital had him on were good ones. He slept heavily, for the first time in weeks, and was forced to sit through his dreams; all of them memories.

_Emma jumped into their bed and leaned down, pressing her lips firmly against his. August responded by snaking his hand through her hair and drawing her closer. He traced the outline of her lips with his tongue, begging her to grant him access, but she broke the kiss then, much to his protest._

" _Emma," he whined. Henry was off with his new friend, Peter Pan, and they had the entire night to be alone. He wanted to taste every inch of her and not to endure any of her torturous teasing._

_She smiled devilishly and sat back, pulling him up along with her._

" _I have a surprise for you," she taunted._

" _Is it a sexy surprise?"_

_He pawed at her breast but she smacked his hand away._

" _No, but it's the result of a sexy surprise, the one I gave you on our anniversary, I suspect."_

_As perceptive as he was, it took him a long moment of watching the gleam in her eye and the small smirk forming on the corner of her lips before he fully understood her words. His hands immediately went for her stomach and he jumped onto his heels._

" _A baby?"_

_Emma smiled with a nod and he lifted into his arms, giving her a twirl before settling her down so he could kiss her._

" _I love you," he whispered, gazing down at her like she was a siren from the sea._

_Emma wrapped her arms around his neck and smirked._

" _I know."_

August tossed, reaching for Emma's pillow before a new dream started.

" _Oh my God, baby!"_

_Emma left August's side and ran for Amelia, throwing her arms around her before pulling her against her chest. He could make out Emma's loud sobs as she began alternately expressing her relief that Amelia was alive and her rage at Henry for allowing his sister to tag along with him in the first place._

_August had known Henry befriending Peter Pan was bad news, even more so when they'd come out as lovers, but he'd never expected Amelia to sneak onto the Jolly Roger along with one Peter Jones so she could follow her big brother on his adventures._

_He grabbed Henry by the ruff of the neck._

" _Son, I love you, but if you ever pull anything like this again, I'm going to kill you."_

"Grandpa?"

August emerged from his memories as one of Henry's boys, Marco, offered him a toy.

"Right, I'll be there in a second, kid, Grandpa's getting old," he teased, watching the little scamp run off before forcing himself to stand, his joints protesting.

"Daddy?"

August turned to find Amelia standing with Killian's damn kid, looking completely terrified.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Peter, Pan, not Jones, emerged from the kitchen and shot August a 'look'. He didn't like the boys hearing the foul language and August rolled his eyes. For someone who had avoided growing up for so long, he had really taken to this domestic thing. Pan ushered the kids out to the backyard.

"This has to be the STUPIDEST thing you've ever done, Peter!"

Ruby wined and moved to calm Killian, but he shrugged her off and kept pacing. It was strange to see Ruby be the calm one for once.

"Dad, come on, I-"

"This is your fault!" Killian accused, pointing at August.

"Mine?"

"Yes! You knocked her mother up at that age and it's not like she has any super-"

"HEY! My dad's not perfect, but he and my mom raised Amelia to know better and trust me, I've been keeping a good eye on her. This isn't anyone's fault but these two. They're both old enough to know that their actions have consequences."

August appreciated Henry's outburst, but he could handle this on his own.

"They have two choices: he marries her or I kill him."

"DADDY!"

August caught a smirk on Henry's lips from the corner of his eyes and Ruby gave him a small nod, agreeing with him.

"Amelia, you're not giving this baby up. Your mother did that and…it was her biggest regret. And I'm not letting him walk out on-"

"BUT YOU DIDN'T MARRY MOM!"

August slammed his fist down, feeling more like himself than he had in months.

"And that was the worst thing I ever did! If I'd have been smarter, I wouldn't have run and we would have been a family. Instead it took over a decade before we got it together enough to have you and you are not repeating my mistakes! If you didn't want to be with him, you shouldn't have spread your legs! And if your mother was here she'd say the same thing so don't look at me like that!"

"I hate you!"

"Good."

Amelia stood and stormed off. Poor Peter sat, cowering, his eyes going after Amelia, but darting back to his parents; unsure of whom he wanted to piss off more.

"Go, moron!" Killian said angrily, sending Peter running for the stairs.

"This is both of your faults," Ruby said finally, glaring. "Pinocchio and the Pirates, clearly Emma and I made wonderful choices when we picked the men to father our children," she snapped. "And of course she'd leave me to deal with this grandmother bullshit on my own."

For the first time, hearing Emma's name didn't send him for the drink.

There was no easy out for him anymore; he had a stupid teenager with a baby to take care of.

Getting sober the second time around was harder. There was no Emma to ground him this time. Henry confiscated all of the alcohol, Jefferson and Sneezy had strict orders not to sell him alcohol, and the entire town had their eye on him in case he stepped out of line.

The pain remained. He wasn't sure he'd ever get over losing Emma and how could he? She'd been everything to him. But she'd never forgive him if he abandoned the kids, especially now.

She was his soul mate and his True Love, but the products of that love were the loves of his life and he didn't want to let her down. He'd done enough of that in his life.

And while he never expected it to happen, he eventually fell in love again.

"What are we calling her?" August whispered, rocking his grandchild in his arms for the first time. He remembered doing this with her mother and regretted never being able to do it with Henry. His finger traced her forehead and she gurgled at him, swelling his heart with love and pride.

He wished, more than anything, that Emma could be here to see this.

"Emma," Amelia whispered, leaning against Peter.

August smiled and kissed the top of Emma's head.

"I think your mom would like that," he said after a moment.

Of all the loves in his life, it seemed only fitting that first and last be Emma.


End file.
